To think that Christmas is just a nightmare for a lot of people.

[MrsSlocombesCat]

I have struggled this year to afford presents and as far as I am concerned Christmas is for children. I can’t be arsed with it all. I keep thinking about all of the people who can’t afford to buy presents for their kids and how it distressing it must be. I think parents on UC should get a decent bonus so they can buy presents for their kids. It really upsets me that there are children who might not get presents on the day. Everything is so expensive now that the cost of living crisis has caused. I thought life would be better under Labour but they’re doing nothing to help disabled people. I had never heard of a right wing government getting into people’s hearts and minds like they’re doing today. So many gullible people.

I only buy for my children. Stopped buying for friends and their kids and nephews and nieces and everything in between. That was the one good thing about lockdown, it made it easier to scrap all of that.

It’s ok to say let’s not do gifts….

Christmas is what you make it and it doesn’t have to cost loads. Some of the big supermarkets are doing 8-10p vegetables at the moment, charity shops are great for presents, loads of free and very cheap community Christmas events, free charity events, free light trails, garden centre Christmas displays, church events and family carol concerts. You don’t need to spend loads to have a good Christmas. And no I don’t think the taxpayer should fund a Christmas bonus for benefit claimers.

Presents and a nice meal isn’t so easily done though when living in poverty and struggling to make ends meet.

How in the world is that £100 unless you buy from somewhere like Harrods? If you buy in normal high street, not even in the bargain shops, socks are £12, bath bombs £10, shower gel £4, hair clips £10, sponges £3. That’s less than £40, how did it come to £100?

This!!

"Even more so with the poor management of a left wing government"

It's not a left wing government. It's Tory light.

''@MyPithyPoster · Today 13:06
What £100 looks like for older children
Sock
Bath bombs
Shower Gel
Hair clips
Sponge things
Doesn't go far''

Unless you are shopping at Harrods or Selfridges that is nonsense.

You could get hair clips, shower gels, bath bombs and sponges from Superdrug's or Boots for about £3/£4 each or even less.

You can get socks from supermarkets and even new ones from many charity shops...

Bath bomb set in boots 6.50
socks in H&M set of 5 8.99
Clips maybe £2-3
shower gel £3-4 maybe
sponge set in primark - 4ish?

thats just about 30!

but i see you got lush bath bombs, and I’m sure they are Nike socks at 28 for the set, which is all great if that’s what said child wants but you CAN get a hell of a lot more for £100 if you want!

Certainly happens! The put-upon Irish Mammy is not just a stereotype, it’s reality for a lot of women, younger & and older…

Im not on a budget, but im sure you take the point. It doesn’t go far.

I’m not on a budget either…and I’m sure you can understand my point that if you needed it to go further then you most certainly could…

Yes. We don’t have the kind of stress and imbalance between the sexes that I see people complaining about. At Christmas or at any time. That would be a dealbreaker for me.

Move to Austria then! Legally, every single job pays you 14 months salary instead of 12. Everyone gets double their normal salary in December that's literally called "Christmas Money" and again in June which is called "Holiday Money". That's life in a high-taxation, socialist country. Healthcare and childcare are also virtually free.

What the OP is suggesting isn’t unreasonable, in Ireland child benefit is not means tested and is €140 per child per month. We have 2 children and get €280 PM in CB. For November and December each child received a double CB payment, so with two children we received €560 in November and the same in December. Receiving €1,120 in the run up to Christmas is a huge help, even for families that are comfortable. For many families I’d say it paid for Christmas, or at least removed a huge amount of stress.

Really?? Months of stress for a single person who presumably is an adults? That's on you. Just say no!

Sorry you are completely unreasonable. You buy during the year, often lots of sales on,you get a second job rather than relay on UC ( and no you don’t get a bonus from the tax payer). Charity shops have good bargains if you are prepared to go looking for them.

You can have a very good Christmas on a small budget

Why would getting a second job be normalised. That is no way to live. It's the 21st century, we should be moving away from that kind of mindset.

OP, are you seriously suggesting that UC should pay claimants a Christmas bonus so that they can afford to buy more expensive presents???
When so many people just above the UC threshold are struggling to pay their bills, let alone larger Christmas presents???
No...just no.

Had to laugh at someone saying get a 2nd job instead of relying on UC. I rely on UC helping me pay the childcare otherwise i couldn’t afford nursery so therefore could not work how exactly would getting a 2nd job help with that???!!!

I save a small amount of money each pay day towards christmas and the children’s birthdays. They get far less than a lot of children but seem fine. I don’t go mad with christmas food and don’t drink much and what i do buy o mainly buy from Aldi.

Whatever the parents issues/circumstances i think no child should go hungry or without a few christmas and birthday presents. Not many children will reach their full potential and break the cycle by living in poverty, inadequate housing and feeling worthless. Most likely cheaper to help them as a child than try and resolve issues as an adult.

I think it is insane we have a system here where people working full time need to be on UC or working tax credits or whatever just in order to live. In my former and current workplace people work bloody hard on minimum wage and pretty much everyone has to have top-up benefits. I DO think work should pay properly. Yet we have just seen how so many small businesses and charities etc will be bankrupted by the rise of the minimum wage and NI etc. My current workplace (a charity with approx 20-ish) staff have announced they have 3 months in reserves and if they can't get extra funding for our projects then they will have to close. (Merry Christmas- announced that this week). My former workplace was in the private sector- a law firm. All support staff and trainee solicitors were paid minimum wage and needed top up benefits. Newly qualified solicitors up to 5 years post-quals earned London living wage and could not get by. The partners were driving new porsches and maseratis though. THAT sort of workplace was relying on the taxpapyer topping up their staff and were merrily pocketing lovely profits themselves. It stunk to high heaven.

Anyway- the Christmas pressure and wife work got to me yesterday and I had a meltdown and found myself in my local at 4 pm in the afternoon sobbing quietly into my white wine spritzer. It's been a stressful few weeks personally (and of course I'll probably lose my job) and DH was insensitive about something I needed help with and I unexpectedly just fell apart. Dh collected me and takeaway Chinese and it's all fine now but yes I need to reflect how to streamline Christmas. I think this thread has been helpful. Reminding me that alot of the pressure is coming from within- me trying to make it perfect. Not insta-worthy, but perfect for us. I'll probably get a bit more real about it today.

Yes totally agree us tax payers should be taxed more in November just so those on UC can get a Christmas bonus payment to afford Christmas!!!!!!!!!!!!! Wtf

im living month to month atm, which in trying to change but…. How i combat it is, i work out how much Christmas costs me, divide that by 12 months and save that amount up so ive got enough to spend by Christmas. Cut out unnecessary presents. Look for deals in the run up

Why would you be taxed more? Maybe sort out the corporation tax and all that, there's be plenty of money.
So much begrudgerey. The UK is very dog eat dog on the bottom rungs. You could be better than this

To be fair a second job was pretty normal when I was growing up in the 90s that’s how we saved up for our house deposits
Full-time nine till five doing something and then usually a bar job in the evenings in the weekends.
Do we still have pubs and bars?

Just because if was normalised when you were young doesn't mean it's right. I think the pov is risible. "I had it shit and so should you 20 years later." Nothing has got better.

What a shitty way to live working all the hours godsends to afford a home.

Something gone wrong somewhere. People scrabbling about to work every hour possible.

God yes. Do you remember the days when a stocking was colouring pencils and a satsuma, and a main present was a Ballerina Sindy? Laser shows, ice skating, Christmas Eve pyjamas Lapland, Christmas market trips to Europe weren't a thing.

Now the adverts tell you your Christmas is imperfect if you don't have a new sofa for your "guests" to park their behinds on.

I find it massively depressing.